It was in Toronto on October 28, 2008, when Steven Stamkos, playing in his eighth NHL game, assisted on a Vincent Lecavalier power-play goal for his first career point.
A little more than 14 years later in Philadelphia on Thursday night, No. 91 recorded point No. 1,000.
Stamkos assisted on Nick Paul’s second goal of the night, at 7:55 of the second period to give the Lightning a 2-0 in what would be a 4-1 win over the Flyers. His teammates skated off to the bench to offer congrats.
“I have been very fortunate to play in this league, for this organization for a long time and experience a lot of highs,” said Stamkos, on Bally Sports Sun after the second period. “This was definitely right up there. A feeling of gratitude, really. This is an individual stat, but it’s really a collective one for me, for all the people since day one who helped me get here. It is pretty amazing.”
Stamkos is the 95th player in league history to reach the lofty milestone and the 56th to do so in less than 1,000 games, a plateau he is on target to reach by season’s end. Thursday night was the captain’s 945th game in the NHL, and the Lightning have 59 games remaining.
Gordie Howe was the first to reach 1,000 points. Mr. Hockey did so during the 1960-61 season with Detroit in his 938th game. The most recent to notch his 1,000th point, prior to Stamkos, was Boston’s Patrice Bergeron last Monday night at Amalie Arena.
The 32-year-old Stamkos recorded a career-high 106 points last season, the only 100-point season of his career. There have been four other seasons he had at least 90 points.
Next for Stamkos is 500 goals. He has 494 and would become the 47th player in league history to reach 500. He recorded his 500th assist last month, on Paul’s overtime goal that defeated Dallas on November 5. So, this has certainly been, and will continue to be, a milestone season for Stammer.
Stamkos and the Lightning return home to host the Maple Leafs on Saturday night in what will the first of six straight home games.
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